REVIEW #435 The Monkey (2025)

The Monkey

Synopsis

Twin brothers find a mysterious wind up monkey in their father’s old possessions, soon after a series of deaths begin to tear their family apart.

My Review

The Monkey sees director Oz Perkins switch up the tone from his predecessor film, Longlegs, utilising a comedy horror approach to bring an interesting addition to the genre. Theo James performs well as the Shelburn twins, a slightly more peculiar role to what we have seen him in before but one that highlights just how multifaceted he can be. I wasn’t expecting the film to be as goofy as it was, with over the top, comical deaths taking place pretty much from the get go. But that was very much the intention here, playing into the silliness for a reaction from the audience, and it worked, much of the cinema was laughing out loud together! It still maintained plenty of horror tropes and genuinely made the monkey an object or presence to be truly feared, especially in the first two acts. That being said, although I respect the stylistic approach, I can’t say it appealed to my personal tastes. The goofiness of the deaths disconnected me and I soon felt like I was watching a comedy skit, but with impressive cinematography! Now that might work for someone else perfectly and I certainly found it funny for sure but I just prefer my comedy horrors to be presented in a way such as Shaun of the Dead for example, where the comedy comes from the characters, but the situation and the deaths are taken seriously. 

My Rating: 6.8 out of 10

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Film Review Club